Fifi Cheek

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Happy 2017!

I love the holidays, but January (despite the cold weather) is so nice because we can wipe the slate clean and start fresh. This year especially is a fresh start as we move into our new house in six days... six days. I can't believe it. You know what else I can't believe? I can't believe our "move date" has fallen on the week I'll be in Atlanta for market. I made Grayson swear that he wouldn't move a box in until I got back.

Getting back on topic... a few resolutions and new habits I have on my list

Make more meals at home.... not only is this healthier and better for our budget, I actually really love cooking and having a meal times at home. Do y'all follow Natalie Mason? She has the best recipes!

Work out... I feel like this is on everyone's list every year but I've finally found something I really enjoy (I've been three times this week already!)

Declutter and purge. I can't wait to get things out of storage and go through everything that's been boxed up for the last year. I have boxes and boxes of kids clothes and need to figure out what do to with them, any suggestions?

Take a family vacation. Living a the beach, we are spoiled by being on the boat almost every weekend in the summer but we want to plan a vacation and really get a way for a week with the kids this year.

Time more time for myself. Other than working out (which I didn't do at all last year really) I feel so guilty to get a facial or massage as I could be spending that time and money on the kids. It's important to take time for myself and I hope that I can make a routine of doing something at least once a month.

Any resolutions or habits that you have made and kept in the past? Would love to hear!

Friday, August 12, 2016

Let's start from the beginning... if nothing else this will help me appreciate how far we've come in the renovation even though when I walk through the house it seems like it's getting worse by the day

BEFORE: EXTERIOR

I'm sure in her hay day, she was a good looking dame of a house. The siding is in decent shape but the shutters, roof, and windows are all being replaced.

BEFORE: ENTRYWAY

Plaster walls and ceilings, original lighting (which in this case also meant original electrical wiring)

BEFORE: FORMAL LIVING ROOM

This is to the left of the entryway and is our future master bedroom. We are closing in the casement off the entry and taking down the wall to the original music room to extend the space.

BEFORE: FORMAL LIVING ROOM

Another view of the formal living room, for the new master bedroom we will update the fireplace surround and refinish the mantel. The french doors to the left of the mantel are the entryway to the new master bathroom. The wall to the right of the fireplace is gone now and is the new master closet.

BEFORE: OFFICE

This was off the formal living room and will be the future master bathroom with a few square feet added.

BEFORE: FORMAL DINING ROOM

The dining room was to the right of the entry way and will be the future living room. The wall to the left is gone now and this room is extended into the existing butlers pantry to make it larger.

BEFORE: BUTLERS PANTRY

The butlers pantry was off the formal dining rom and is now going to be part of the living room. See the floor change? Hear about all the walls coming down... this is the part where things get expensive.

BEFORE: KITCHEN

Now this is where it gets really expensive. You see those floors? We thought we found gold underneath them when the walls started coming down, but it wasn't hardwoods, it was rotten hardwoods/plywoods. You see that ceiling? That's a money problem too. We had always planned to replace it with sheetrock, but when it came down, we found major plumbing/rot issues on the guest bathroom.

BEFORE: KITCHEN/LAUNDRY?

There were about 100 hooks in the ceilings and we haven't been able to figure out what they were used for. Drying meat? Hanging herbs? Either way, the ceiling was dropped into a different slope so that' s been brought up to the 9' height as the rest of the house. This wall where the washer/dryer is has been blown out. The wall to the left we were all thinking and praying was going to be OK behind the plywood, but oh no, it all had to be replaced. Mo money, mo problems.

BEFORE: DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY

You see that fire extinguisher? For some reason, there were about 20 of those things posted all over the house. To the right not this is the existing powder room. Too tiny to even photograph. It's being extended and reworked where someone can use the bathroom with the door closed... not possible before. Everyone needs a little privacy.

BEFORE: UPSTAIRS LANDING

Note the two fire extinguishers.

This house is the traditional four square and all four bedrooms and two bathrooms were upstairs.

BEFORE: MASTER BEDROOM

It's actually a little bigger than it looks in this photo, but this will be Maines bedroom. Closet is to the left of the photo.

BEFORE: MASTER BEDROOM/BATHROOM

Weird/tiny bathroom and no closet. We are reworking the closets in the entire house and extending this bathroom to be the kids bathroom.

BEFORE: MASTER BEDROOM

The tiniest master bathroom... we are extending this and stealing a little square footage from the kids rooms to make their new bathroom larger.

BEFORE: GUEST ROOM

This will be Tilley-Gray's room. The walls (minus wallpaper) upstairs are in good shape and luckily we can do the electrical through the floor and the ceiling since those are both going to be open.

BEFORE: GUEST ROOM

Tilley-Gray's new room

BEFORE: GUEST ROOM 2

BEFORE: GUEST ROOM 2

The bumper stickers are from the 1980s. I feel like these are like a scrapbook of some teenage life and feel bag about getting rid of them but 100% am not using them. Toss them? The bumper stickers are pretty epic in this room.

BEFORE:GUEST BATHROOM

We thought we would be able to salvage this bathroom... the one spot in the house that we could lipstick. It actually is full of rotted floors and walls and is now down the studs.

BEFORE: GUEST ROOM 3

BEFORE: BACK PORCH

Such a mess, right off the kitchen. It has boat awnings on it that my drapery workroom said they made 15 years ago. This whole porch was ripped off and we are starting from scratch.

BEFORE: BACK PORCH

BEFORE: BACKYARD POOL

We've got big, long term plans for the yard, but so far we cleaned up the pool and actually have been able to swim.

A few questions I've gotten over and over these past few weeks:

How did you REALLY find the house? Did you REALLY want to renovate?

We purchased this house in a little bit of a round about way. Gray and Baxter (Gray's brother) looked at it a few years ago. Gray, knowing good and well not to show it to me because of the price it was then and how much work it needed, didn't really tell me any details except it needed a lot of work. Fast forward after two more moves and living in a home we knew we bought as an investment and were so ready to sell, I still REALLY needed to be convinced and didn't walk through it with Gray until Channing, our architect took a look at it first. Gray and I work really well together once we have a plan, but he's knows a little bit about a lot of things and says exactly what he's thinking immediately. When he walks through a house (or sees things he knows he can fix) he just starts talking a million miles a minute, and I'm the very opposite. I like to take my time, quietly, and then talk about ideas a little later. Once we both walked through it separately, Gray and I both knew it was the house for our family. That's the best (and only) marriage advice I have y'all... architects and interiors designers are worth every penny.

The other question I've gotten that's surprised me, more because it's such a bold questions is:

How can you DO THIS to your KIDS? Moving so much will stunt their development.

Writing about our renovation and including snippets of Tilley-Gray and Maines is public, yes, but I can't believe how many people have commented on the number of times they have moved and how we are such bad parents. I moved dozens of times (30 to be exact) when I was growing up and as much as I hope that this house is a long-term home for our family, I don't think it defines the kind of parents we are or will define how Tilley-Gray and Maines turn out. They have loving parents and are surrounded by a community of friends that are like family that love them. I like to think that a house or the things that are inside it do not shape a childhood, but more the parents, the people, and the experiences they have. If anything, our kids are adaptable and grateful and that's at the tip top of important traits for me.

Are they going to film another episode?

I have to say, I'm so so thankful for the sweet comments and encouragemnt we have received about the house. The experience we had with PieTown was awesome and I'm not sure if we will film another episode or not yet, but if you'd like to see more, let them know so! When the crew left, they were all pretty excited about the project and hopeful that more would come from it.

Where can we see the show?

If you missed it, I don't have a link yet to the show. Once I do, I'll be sure to share. It came on again tonight at 8pm so you'll have to just look out for it on HGTV!

So that's the before and a few questions... up next the first draft of plans. What do y'all want to see? Selections? Budget? Let me know!

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Babies, design projects, a store, and just life in general are all trump cards when it comes to blogging, but I'm dying to document this whole renovation on more than just instagram so am going to try my best on the old bloggity blog. Let's pick up where we left off last time with a little intermission called Hunting Vintage.

Back in January, Gray and I filmed with Pietown Productions and HGTV for a new pilot series called Hunting Vintage - Think House Hunters with a vintage twist. We have always loved historic homes, especially since selling our first home (featured in HGTV magazine here) and have had our eyes on that part of town over our last four moves in the last three years. Yes... FOUR moves over the last THREE years... while I was pregnant. I think Gray should give me some kind of medal.... or a great vacation for letting me actually go through all of this craziness that I insisted on. :)

Anyway, Pietown Productions contacted us and were interested in learning more about our project and after a few Skype conversations and emails we were set to film the show. Gray and I were nervous but the whole process was so much fun. I think 95% of that has to with the amazing crew we had. It's like going on a blind date at first but by the end of the first day it felt like we had been friends forever. The show aired two weeks ago and the response to it has been so positive. I'm not sure if we will film any more shows yet documenting the progress but as soon as I can, I'll put the episode link up and my next post will give more details about the show.

Ok, so just to catch up from the very first post....

If you follow along on instagram, you may have seen a few posts of my newest project, a 1928 home that hasn't been touched (except for maybe a few updates in the 1960s) that Gray and I just purchased. Gray was at the house meeting the utility companies to set everything up in our names when he came across this coffee mug that was left behind. He sent me picture of this mug with a few choice words. Demo hasn't started yet and we are already getting warning signs. Yikes!

The goods news is that our general contractors are a dream. It's a husband/wife team. That's right... a female general contractor that is a wife and a momma. She knows what I'm saying when I'm not saying it. She understands preschool pick-up times and why I really think it's important to have a mom drop zone with a charging station. I have a few other construction teams that I work with and love here in Wilmington, but Stephannie is a good friend and between running a design business, opening a store, being a momma, and renovating a house, I know I can just say "just do what you think is best" on those little decisions and she will make the best decision. I have to focus on my clients and answer those little questions on their behalf and I'm glad that I have the Pioneer Group to do that for me too.

Speaking of little questions.... this is the existing kitchen. It is ugly. No way around it. My mom and grandparents were in town last week and I walked them through the house. My poor Memaw and Mom just kept telling everyone..."just don't touch anything... Lindsey it's going to be gorgeous when you are done but please don't walk those youngin's through this house!" The house isn't a crack house for goodness sakes, just a few water bugs here and there!

I promise this is the worst of the house... the rest of it has beautiful details and great bones.... the floors (except the kitchen) are even in great shape and we just have to refinish them. The kitchen looks like a different house, but it's still the house. Y'all just send good vibes over. The architect and my positive attitude hopefully will get us a long ways because that's where that coffee cup was found and Grayson Cheek isn't quite so confident today!

The reason we are so in love with the house is the back yard. It has this massive oak tree that just feels like home. The yard is big and it needs a lot of work and it has a pool that makes me so terrified but I know that with the right work and the right design, it will all amazing. The backyard is more overwhelming to me than the house because it has two sheds, a basketball court, a green house, a pool, and an exisitng garden. Right now, it looks more like a swamp and an overgrown jungle. This is more of a long term project, more because of budget than anything, but I'm actually most excited about this than anything else. I've started an entire Pinterest board for our landscape designer and luckily, he is totally stoked about the whole thing.

We knew it was going to be a tough renovation budget wise. The words "moving target" are talked about a lot and to a designer, those words are no fun. We knew going into this it we would disagree, we would have have some hard conversations, but acknowledging that upfront, I can say it's not been too hard on our marriage. Y'all budgets and renovations are no joke. With a new construction, you can go over budget by adding more square footage, great finishes/tile/lighting/etc. Renovating a 100 year old home, we've had to spend money on things I will never actually see like new footers. The words "load bearing walls" are like a curse word to me now. Everytime I hear that curse word, I just have to strike off another gorgeous light fixture or millwork detail I had plans for and put that on the "phase 2" list... but I'm OK with that. I don't expect to have my dream house at 33. I'm beyond thrilled that Gray and I are able to have such a great house that we can work on long term. It won't have all the furniture and all the wallpaper and all the artwork that I'd love for it to have, but that's what makes it exciting to me. We will be moving into a home that has 100 years of history, renovated by a team that we love dearly, and year by year we will add the layers and our own history to make it ours.

Quick tour of the main areas

existing dining room will be our living room

existing living room/music room will be master bedroom

existing office will be master bathroom (adding square footage here)

existing entry walls will be opened up

Patience has been on our side through this renovation as we've run into some major hiccups due to boring things like steel beams, rotting wood, and crumbling footers. Tens of thousands of dollars that none of us will actually ever see have been spent (bye bye herringbone floors and steel windows) but at the end of the day, we are still happy to own this house. Renovating a home that's almost a century old is like running a marathon hung over. Almost every day I feel like we've had bad news but we just keep our chins up and make necessary adjustments and at the end of the day, we know that this home will be a great place for our family. Adam, who is the husband part of The Pioneer Group, lovingly said that maybe it was all of our fault. All the problems that we've run into have been because this old dame of a house heard us talking about making her more modern and she reared up and gave us a hard time. Hopefully now that we are just giving her updated bones and a new foundation she will be happy with her face lift and a little nicer to us now.Renovating has been such an eye opening experience and something that I've really enjoyed. I'm blessed to work with great clients that have beautiful homes, but there is something about bringing a crumbling old home back to life, the imperfection and ugliness of it all is so rewarding. I went out of town last weekend with the kids while Gray worked on the house and my one request was that the refrigerator in the back yard with the rotten pickle jars be gone when we got back. Baby steps....

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The idea of relaxing and going to market don't typically go together but this year, Gray had a conference at the Grove Park Inn about the same time that market started. Instead of not seeing each other for a solid week we decided to make full trip of it, sans kids, and spend a little uninterrupted time together. After all, things are going to get a little more exciting around here (that's what I tell myself when I start getting overwhelmed and so far so good!)

We started the trip by stopping in High Point so that I could go to the vintage and antique market. Most of the other showrooms were still setting up and not quite open but being there early I was able to score beautiful things for the store.

I am constantly on the search for vintage oushak rugs and found beautiful rugs including one for a project I'm working on right now (not pictured). There were piles of over dyed rugs but these were tucked back in a corner folded up and to be quite honest, it was lucky Gray was there with me because he was happy to unfold them all for me. After about half an hour of going through these rugs, there were about a dozen other people around as Gray would flip each rug out. Luckily I got first dibs and scored these for the new store!

Buying for a store is so much harder than pulling things for clients and I can tell just by looking at the store right now what I'm really drawn to and it's unique tables because I have about 6 in my little store. The last thing I needed to buy was a table but this one caught my eye and I couldn't leave without it. How great would this be in a more modern house with light walls and a set of pretty lamps? Y'all it is so pretty. Somebody come and get it before I take it home!

Gray couldn't get over these vintage dough bowls for some reason so they are came home with us too for the store. I wasn't quite sure about them but you'll see a little further down that apparently he wasn't the only one that loved them (they were all over market!) and I found just the right thing for them!

After I emptied my wallet at the antique part of market, we hoped back in the car and headed to Asheville. Gray was honored this past weekend at a continuing education retreat and I was lucky enough to spend the weekend at the Grove Park Inn with him. We ate and while he was in class I worked a little by the huge fireplace, hiked, went to yoga class, and then on Saturday spent 8 hours at the spa. I didn't know what to do with myself!

I packed so last minute for this weekend and just threw in what I thought I would need for market, a night or two out for dinner, but really didn't think about the days too much while I was at the Grove Park Inn. I went hiking every morning and afterwards had coffee on the back porch while I worked a little. Let me just tell you.... the more "mature" guest at the hotel were no joke. I took this photo because the guest check in was so beautiful, but really.... look at that dapper man. His hat had real feathers in it and those shoes were wing tipped with his monogram on the back. That was basically my motivation to go to yoga class.... to under dressed to stay on the veranda with my mac book and coffee!

Have any of you gone hiking solo before? This was just a few miles but it was so relaxing. With so much going on at home to think about, I was able to just hike and relax and listen to everything going on around me.

This sign was about half way through the hike. Thanks for the warning, right!?

The hike ends at an outdoor wind art gallery. It was so peaceful and beautiful and made me think that something like this would be so great when we move into our new house.

The view looking out of the main bar was so pretty!

Gray and I don't get too much time one on one these days and it was nice to just sit and talk this weekend.

Two of the three nights we went out to dinner around Asheville. If you aren't familiar with Asheville, it's known for it's food scene and there are so many great restaurants. My brother lives there and recommended a new spot called Curate. It's a tapas bar and when we called a few weeks ago to make a reservation, the only spot they had was at 10pm. We heard it was worth it so went and it didn't disappoint. The menu had about 100 different tapas on it so instead of spending an hour reading the menu, we just asked the waiter to pick out a few for us to try and they were all great.

On Saturday, Gray had classes all day and had booked a facial for me at the spa. My appointment wasn't until the afternoon but everyone told me to go for the day so after hiking that morning I went, I spent almost eight hours at the spa, I just lost track of time. It's that amazing. I didn't take a photo while I was there (no phones/cameras allowed!) but this is what one of the indoor mineral pools looks like.

Saturday night we went to dinner at Gan Shan Station. Out of the all the meals we ate that weekend, it was by far my favorite. It reminds me a lot of the restaurant Xiao Bao Biscuit in Charleston. The atmosphere was just as great as the food and we sat at the bar so that we could see all the action in the kitchen. If you are ever in Asheville and love Asian food, check it out.

By Sunday we were anxious to get back home but I needed to spend another day at market so we stopped by High Point on our way back home. The store is opening in a little over two weeks (hope you will come and visit!) and I have a few design clients that I needed to shop for.

This cabinet was so pretty. Wouldn't that be great in a bedroom?

Remember that dough bowl Gray talked me into? Saw them about fifty times on Sunday at market.

This vintage truck was already taken when I saw it but it was in almost perfect condition and just the right size.

Went to visit one of my favorite showrooms who had great artwork from Zoe Bios Creative.

It was SUCH a good weekend but I was so happy to be home. We didn't get home until late Sunday night and I just wanted to snuggle up with Tilley-Gray and Maines. This week has been great prepping for the opening, working on a fun project on Figure 8 Island, and today I turn 33. Yikes! As I write this, my early bird little girl and (not so early bird husband) are making pancakes for me. Hope you all have a great day too!